Writers'Forum

Peter Mortimer is a man of many parts. A widely performed playwright, poet, and the founder of publisher Iron Press, this former journalist also pens adventurous and soul-searching non-fi ction. His book The Last of the Hunters, described as a ‘minor classic’, came about while he was in a writer’s residency, The Writers & Artists Agency. There was a scheme to send a writer to a particular type of industry, and Peter was selected to take part. ‘I was selected to go and meet members of the fishing industry, who worked in the trawlers off the coast of Cullercoats, in South Shields,’ says Peter. Although the original idea was simply to interview the fi shermen and their families, which he did, that was not enough for Peter. ‘I told them I wanted to go out to sea with them, and they were a bit shocked by that,’ he laughs. As he discovered, life at sea for a working fisherman is harsh, frightening and dangerous, but Peter stuck it for six months, working alongside hardened fishermen on six different boats. His experiences on the fishing boats tell of a gruelling day-to-day schedule. He writes: Nothing could have prepared me for The Frem. We steam from the Tyne for eight hours, weighing anchor at 4am, when we begin fishing.